On Wednesday, Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital and Medical Center (JFL) held a ceremony to dedicate a memorial garden created and developed by community volunteers in March. Asa’s Garden, as the new garden has been affectionately named, was designed as a sacred space for parents who have lost children to be at peace and reflect. The garden is a part of JFL’s Perinatal Loss Center of Hope’s Infant and Children.

Asa’s Garden was dedicated by Project Promise, the non-profit organization that spearheaded the project and galvanized businesses, community volunteers and students from both its Caterpillar program and Howard University to develop it. The concept was designed by the group’s founder and president, Resa O’Reilly.

The memorial garden was dedicated in honor of 18-year-old Crucian native Asa O’Neal, who was a freshman at Howard University when he died suddenly last November. Some of his classmates who were visiting the island on spring break last month made up the volunteer pool. Asa’s mother Denise O’Neal, spoke about her son and how much he loved helping others. The garden was dedicated and blessed by Pastor Reginald Perry of Victorious Believers Ministries, inspirational songs were sung by local vocal artists, and JFL’s electrician Winsburt Jagrup played the acoustic guitar.

Juan F. Luis Hospital and Medical Center is getting additional sprucing up because of a wonderful collaboration of community groups and generous donors. Four beautiful new benches were delivered to the hospital’s front entrance on Thursday. New concrete had been previously laid by JFL’s maintenance department to convert an old flower bed into a much needed seating area.

The renovation was started by the Patient Family Council’s (PFC) fundraising efforts last fall. Kris and Whealan Massicott of ib Designs in Christiansted generously donated money for the bench. In discussing PFC asked My Brothers’ Workshop (MBW) to build the benches.

The entrance area will be dedicated to the late Nancy Martin, who founded the Patient Family Council and was responsible for raising funds for hospital improvements.

Share this:

Related

Related Links

Social Share

Support the VI Source

Unlike many news organizations, we haven't put up a paywall - we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. Our sites are more popular than ever, but advertising revenues are falling - so you can see why we could use your help. Our independent journalism costs time, money and hard work to keep you informed, but we do it because we believe that it matters. If everybody who appreciates our reporting efforts were to help fund it for as little as $1, our future would be much more secure. Thanks in advance for your support!

Many use the Internet to store their digital files on a remote server. If the owner dies, these digital assets could be lost forever, but a bill before the Legislature on Thursday, Dec. 14, would remedy this, according to Troy A. de Chabert-Schuster .

Helicopter Association International (HAI) has named Maria Rodriguez of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, a pilot for Caribbean Buzz, the 2018 winner of its Salute to Excellence Appareo Pilot of the Year Award.

One working hospital to serve 103,000 people on three islands. That’s the stark reality members of the 32nd Legislature Committee on Health, Hospitals and Human Services came to after hearing testimony from V.I. healthcare officials Friday.

No Comments

Local News

In a letter to federal partners dated Tuesday, Sen. Nereida Rivera-O’Reilly expressed opposition to the proposed burning of wood debris and waste on St. Croix and St. Thomas, and demanded that any burning be halted.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources $100,000 to support communities of the territory that depend on clean water resources.

A burn permit has been issued for the island of St. Croix to allow FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers to burn debris left over from the two devastating hurricanes that pounded the territory in September, Gov. Kenneth Mapp announced Monday night.

While the names of the five victims of Thursday evening's plane crash on St. Croix have not officially been confirmed, one member of the popular Stylee Band out of St. Croix has been widely published as a fatality.